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Food as a Weapon in Yemen - The targeting of food security in a New War

Ekström, Joel LU (2020) FKVK02 20201
Department of Political Science
Abstract (Swedish)
24 million people in war-torn Yemen were in 2019 in need of humanitarian aid. Delivery of aid has been hindered by parties to the conflict in what is best described as a strategic weaponization of food. The use of food as a weapon in Yemen requires thorough investigation, but there is a lack of research on the topic. Through a qualitative analysis of the single case of Yemen, this study identifies several aspects of the strategy used to target food security, including diversion of aid but also disruptions of markets and decreased agricultural production. As a possible perspective is also to see this alternative form of warfare as a characteristic of the changed nature of modern conflict, this study further discusses how weaponization of... (More)
24 million people in war-torn Yemen were in 2019 in need of humanitarian aid. Delivery of aid has been hindered by parties to the conflict in what is best described as a strategic weaponization of food. The use of food as a weapon in Yemen requires thorough investigation, but there is a lack of research on the topic. Through a qualitative analysis of the single case of Yemen, this study identifies several aspects of the strategy used to target food security, including diversion of aid but also disruptions of markets and decreased agricultural production. As a possible perspective is also to see this alternative form of warfare as a characteristic of the changed nature of modern conflict, this study further discusses how weaponization of food relates to the dynamics of New Wars. The findings show that parties to the conflict intentionally cause hunger through hindering food availability and reducing people’s access to food, through physical as well as economic methods. The findings further indicate that the purpose for using this strategy relies in part on the logics of New Wars. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Ekström, Joel LU
supervisor
organization
course
FKVK02 20201
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Yemen, Starvation, New War, Weaponization, Food
language
English
id
9011318
date added to LUP
2020-09-21 11:52:14
date last changed
2020-09-21 11:52:14
@misc{9011318,
  abstract     = {{24 million people in war-torn Yemen were in 2019 in need of humanitarian aid. Delivery of aid has been hindered by parties to the conflict in what is best described as a strategic weaponization of food. The use of food as a weapon in Yemen requires thorough investigation, but there is a lack of research on the topic. Through a qualitative analysis of the single case of Yemen, this study identifies several aspects of the strategy used to target food security, including diversion of aid but also disruptions of markets and decreased agricultural production. As a possible perspective is also to see this alternative form of warfare as a characteristic of the changed nature of modern conflict, this study further discusses how weaponization of food relates to the dynamics of New Wars. The findings show that parties to the conflict intentionally cause hunger through hindering food availability and reducing people’s access to food, through physical as well as economic methods. The findings further indicate that the purpose for using this strategy relies in part on the logics of New Wars.}},
  author       = {{Ekström, Joel}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Food as a Weapon in Yemen - The targeting of food security in a New War}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}